In ven tor



June 12, 1956 S. J. ELSWICK CIGARETTE-CLIP HOLDER Filed June 24, 1955 INV EN TOR.

STUART J ELsWIcK ATTOQHEYS CIGARETTE-CLIP HOLDER Stuart J. Elswick,Anawalt, W. Va.

Application June 24, 1955, Serial No. 517,739

Claims. (Cl. 131-259) This invention, a cigarette holder, has amongimportant objects thereof the following:

To provide, in a holder of the type having a stem-like handle extendingperpendicularly to the length or the supported cigarette, improved meansfor releasably gripping the cigarette;

To facilitate the connection or disconnection of the cigarette andholder;

To permit tilting of the supported cigarette about an axis extendingtransversely thereof so that it may be held with its length at an angleother than 90 degrees to the length of the holder;

To facilitate the holding of the cigarette in such a way that there willbe no cigarette stain or odor on ones fingers after smoking, whileinsuring that the natural taste of the cigarette will be retained; and

To obtain approximately as much smoking from a cigarette of regular sizeas that which may be obtained from smoking a so-called king sizecigarette in the conventional manner, that is, holding the cigarettebetween the fingers of the hand.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the holder supporting a cigarette;

Figure 2 is an enlarged partial section on line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figure 2.

The holder constituting the present invention includes an elongated,cylindrical stem integrally formed at its upper end with a flattened,widened end portion 12 having a correspondingly flattened and widenedrecess 14 opening upon the upper extremity of said end portion.

In the outer surface of one side wall of the recess 14, there is formeda shallow recess 16, in which is engaged the inner end of a flat, widearm 18 riveted at 20, at locations spaced longitudinally of said arm, tothe end portion 12. Ann 18, at its outer end, projects above the openend of recess 14, and extends along one side of the recess. A jaw 22,curved through substantially 90.degrees of a circle in the direction ofthe opposite side of the recess 14, is pivotally connected at the innerend of said jaw by means of a rivet 24 to the arm 18. Projectinglaterally from arm 18 in the same direction as jaw 22, that is, abovethe open end of recess 14, is an approximately triangular, blade-likeprojection 26 having a top edge 28 inwardly curved about the samecenter, and upon the same radius, as jaw 22.

Medially between the opposite sides of recess 14, and extendingtransversely within the recess between the front and back walls thereofa short distance below the open upper end of the recess, is a pivot pin30, passing through transversely aligned openings formed in laterallyspaced ears 32 integrally provided upon opposite sides of an elongatedstraight arm 34, which projects out of the open upper end of recess 14.A jaw 36, curved through sub- United States Patent 0 2,749,919 PatentedJune 12, 1956 "ice stantially degrees about a radius equal to that ofthe jaw 22, is pivotally connected by means of a pivot 38 to the upperor free end of arm 34, and extends toward the jaw 22.

Circumposed about pin 30 are the coils of a spring 40, one end of whichbears against the outer surface of arm 34, and the other end of whichbears against the side wall of recess 14 opposite from the side wall towhich arm 18 is secured, the spring being arranged to normally swing arm34 toward arm 18. A substantially triangular projection 42 rigidlysecured to the inner surface of arm 34 extends toward the projection 26,and has an inwardly curved top edge 43 curved about a center, and upon aradius, common to that of the jaw 36. When arm 34 is biased in aclockwise direction as seen in Figure 2 to its maximum extent, thepointed tips of projections 26, 42 are in closely spaced relation. Inthis relationship of the parts, edges 28 and 43, and jaws 22, 36 formdifferent segments of a common circle, to cooperate in defining acircular opening of a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameterof the cigarette C.

Integrally formed upon the inner end of the arm 34 is an extension 44disposed at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal axis of arm 34, andprovided at its free lower end with a laterally, outwardly projectingpush button 46 extending through a short longitudinal slot 48 formed inthe adjacent side wall of recess 14 near the inner end of the recess.

In use of the device, one grasps the stem in one hand, and depressesbutton 46 with the thumb, to the dotted line position of Figure 2. Thisshifts jaw 36 outwardly from jaw 22 against the restraint of spring 40,widening the cigarette-receiving opening to permit insertion of acigarette. The push button is then released, and under the force ofspring 40, the jaw 36 will shift into engagement with the cigarettecooperating with jaw 22 in gripping the supported cigarette. Thecigarette may now be conveniently smoked, without ones fingers touchingthe same, thus eliminating the possibility of stain or odor on thefingers.

Normally, the longitudinal axis of the cigarette will be perpendicularto that of stem 10. However, as shown in Figure 3, due to the pivotalmounting of the upper half of the jaws on their associated arms, saidjaws may be swung about a common horizontal axis defined by rivets 24,38 to enable the cigarette to be tilted to a position in which it isdisposed at an angle other than a right angle to the stem 10.

When the cigarette has been fully smoked, one need merely press inwardlyon push button 46, the cigarette thus being released and may be removedfrom the holder.

When the holder is not in use, it may be readily inserted in a shirtpocket or a suit breast pocket, and clipped therein through the mediumof a spring pocket clip 50 secured to the side of the stem 10. Theillustrated clip is angularly spaced 90 degrees about the circumferenceof the stem from the push button, but this spacing can be changed asdesired.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confinedto the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the inventionto be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to be illustrativeof the principles, it being considered that the invention comprehendsany minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cigarette holder comprising a stern; a first arm having a fixedconnection to the stem and projecting beyond one end of the stem; anarcuate first jaw connected to the first arm; a second arm pivotallymounted upon the stern and spaced laterally from the first arm; a secondarcuate jaw connected to the second arm and extending toward the firstjaw; resilient, yielding means associated with the second arm adapted tonormally bias thesecond arm toward the first arm for disposition of saidjaws in engagement with a cigarette extending therebetween; and lateralprojections fixed to the respective arms and extending toward oneanother below the respective jaws in position to engage the underside ofa cigarette between the jaws in supporting relation to said cigarette.

2. A cigarette holder including an elongated stem; a first arm extendinglongitudinally of the stem beyond one end of the same and having a fixedconnection to the stem; a first jaw carried by the projecting end of thefirst arm and arcuately curved to extend about a segment of thecircumference of a cigarette; a second arm pivotally mounted upon thestem and having a free end projecting beyond said end of the stem inlaterally spaced relation to the first arm; a second jaw connected tothe second arm and arcuately curved in the direction of the first namedjaw so as to extend about a second segment of the circumference of saidcigarette; spring means operatively connected to the stem and saidsecond arm adapted to normally bias the second arm and jaw toward thefirst arm and jaw; and a pair of approximately triangular projectionsfixedly secured to the respective arms and extending laterally from thearms toward one another, one of said projections being proportioned toextend about a third segment of the cigarette circumference and theother projection being adapted to extend about a fourth segment of thecigarette circumference, to cooperate with respective jaws in grippingsaid cigarette.

3. A cigarette holder including an elongated stem; a first arm extendinglongitudinally of the stem beyond one end of the same and having a fixedconnection to the stem; a first jaw carried by the projecting end of thefirst arm and arcuately curved to extend about a segment of thecircumference of a cigarette; a second arm pivotally mounted upon thestem and having a free end projecting beyond said end of the stem inlaterally spaced relation to the first arm; a second jaw connected tothe second arm and arcuately curved in the direction of the first namedjaw so as to extend about a second segment of the circumference of saidcigarette; spring means operatively connected to the stem and saidsecond arm adapted to normally bias the second arm and jaw toward thefirst arm and jaw; a pair of approximately triangular projectionsfixedly secured to the respective arms and extending laterally from thearms toward one another, one of said projections being proportioned toextend about a third segment of the cigarette circumference and theother projection being adapted to extend about a fourth segment of thecigarette circumference, to cooperate with said jaws in gripping saidcigarette; an extension formed upon the second arm; and a push buttoncarried by said extension and projecting laterally outwardly from thestem, said push button being disposed for depression by a user in adirection effective to shift the second arm away from the first arm andjaw against the force of said spring means.

4. A holder for a cigarette comprising an elongated stem providing ahandle, said stem at one end including a relatively flat end portion andsaid end portion having a recess opening upon said end of the stem; 21first arm extending substantially in parallelism with the longitudinalcenter line of the stem and fixedly secured to said widened end portionat one side of the recess, said first arm projecting beyond the open endof the recess; a second arm pivotally mounted within said recess andadapted to be swung about an axis extending transversely of the recess,said second arm projecting at one end out of the open end of the recessin laterally spaced relation to the first arm; spring means operativelyconnected to said second arm and one wall of the recess to normally biasthe second arm about the pivot axis thereof in the direction of thefirst arm; first and second jaws each arcuately curved throughsubstantially degrees of a circle connected to the projecting ends ofthe respective arms and extending toward one another, adapted to grip acigarette therebetween on movement of the second arm under the force ofthe spring means toward the first arm; means associated with the secondarm adapted to swing the same in a direction away from the first armagainst the restraint of said means under the control of a user; andlateral projections carried by the respective arms and extending towardone another within the space between the arms, said projections beingspaced longitudinally of the arms from the jaws thereof, saidprojections having curved edges with the curved edge of each projectioncurving about a center common to that about which the jaw of the arm towhich it is attached is curved, said edge of each projection beingcurved upon a radius equal to that of the jaw of the same arm, wherebyto define a substantially circular opening of different segments, theedge of which is defined by the respective jaws and projections, forreceiving a supported cigarette.

5. A cigarette holder comprising an elongated stem; a first arm fixedlyconnected to and projecting beyond one end of the stem; a first jawarcuately curved to extend partially about the circumference of acigarette engaged thereagainst, said first jaw having a pivotalconnection to the first arm; a second arm pivotally mounted upon thestem in laterally spaced relation to the first arm and projecting beyondsaid end of the stem; spring means operatively connected to said secondarm adapted to bias the second arm in the direction of the first arm;and a second arcuate jaw pivotally connected to the second arm, saidjaws being pivotable upon an axis extending transversely of the stem fordisposition of a cigarette gripped thercbetween with its length at aselected angle to the length of the stem.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,641,517 Yessaian Sept. 6, 1927 1,692,652 Habbart Nov. 20, 19281,780,936 Nurnberg Nov. 11, 1930 1,904,903 Sweet Apr. 18, 1933 2,145,910Alphen Feb. 7, 1939

